Limonov's 'It's Me, Eddie' and the Erotics of Exile

• In Event: Displaced Desires: Writing Sex, Self, and Relation in Exile

Abstract

This paper examines the erotics of exile as the principle poetic device of Eduard Limonov's novel It's Me, Eddie. Scandalous to a fault, Limonov's debut novel aims to shock with its descriptions of the queer protagonist's sexual adventures in New York City. Yet if read at face value, Limonov's choices in representing sex acts and the very mechanics of bodies in space reveal his evolving ideas about exile and freedom. The paper is based on archival research and a comparative analysis of the novel's first draft.

Author

• Roman Utkin, Wesleyan U